Ok, so this was the third Evergreen nominee that I read (#2 was a dud for me - I couldn’t get passed the first couple of chapters). If you’ve been reading my reviews you know I’m a pretty honest reviewer. To tell you the truth about this book? This one was kind of a dud too but I got through it. I thought overall, for lack of better adjectives, it was kind of stupid? The story lacked depth. It felt like too easy of a read, and I am kind of puzzled as to how it ended up on the top 10 Evergreen list because I didn’t think it was that fantastic. Maybe just because of the topic and the relevance?

Here is what it is about: Jess, an older adult loses her job and struggles to get back into the job market given her age. So, she starts to grow pot in her basement and run a grow-op. With the help of her friends, she becomes successful and is able to turn her life back around and enjoy the journey of growing weed.

It’s a pretty simplistic plot line. The characters were intriguing but because of the shorter length of the novel (242 pages), I felt there wasn’t much time as a reader to really understand and get to know them on a deeper level of connection. So, I have to think that this book made it to the finalist of the Evergreen nominees because of the legalization of marijuana topic that has been in discussion in Ontario for the past few years.

Now, granted I did read this book over this past week, which was also my first week in a brand new public librarian position. So my brain has been very overwhelmed. But I still am confident that my review is accurate enough of the book regardless of my brain’s state while reading.

So unless you enjoy light, shorter novels that feature unconventional characters and unique but simple plot lines, I wouldn’t bother with this book.